Tomato harvester



Aug. 2 1 24. 1,504,846

E. Y. TARKINGTON TOMATO HARVESTER Filed we. so, 1922 o G I INVENTOR.

Ell 6W X FIR/(we ram A TTORNE Y5.

Patented Aug 12, 1924.

ELVAN Y. TARKINGTON, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

TOMATO HABVESTEB.

Application filed December 80,1922. Serial No. 809,920. I

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, ELVAN Y. TARKING- TON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Indianapolis, county of Marion,

and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Tomato Harvester; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

This invention relates to a harvesting carriage and delivery, and more particularly to an attachment for an agricultural wagon for use in picking and gathering tomatoes and the like.

The main object of the invention is to provide an attachment that will facilitate the picking andharvesting of tomatoes and the like by providing a carriage in which the pickers may be seated, so arranged as to permit them to remain seated in a comparatively comfortable position within easy reach of the tomato plants and the ground and still permit one picker to cover several rows of lants. Heretofore the practice has been suc that the picker must constantly stoop down and cover the ground and the plants continuously in a stooping posture, which not only becomes tiresome but soon unbearable. The purpose, therefore, of the invention is to not only make the work of icking tomatoes easier and more endurable, at more rapid as to the ground covered per man.

' Another feature of the invention resides in the delivery mechanism whereb an endless carrying belt is provided, an so positioned that it is not necessary for'the picker to fill one basket at a time and then carry it to a given place to be picked u but may toss the tomatoesas the are pic-hed directlv on to the carrying be t which will deliver t e same ultimately into a receptacle already'placed in the wagon. This arrangement greatly saves both time and, energy in the harvesting of tomatoes and like articles.

The full nature of this invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a lan view looking down on a wagon with t e attachment mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the attachment showing the pickers in place.v Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of an end elevation of the attachment. Fig. 5 is an enlar ed cross-section taken on the line 5-5 of lg.

2. Fig. 6is an enlarged view of the deliver belt drive.

n the drawings there is shown the representation of a tomato field having a plurality of plants 10 from which it is desired to pick the tomatoes. The usual form of wagon 11 is employed, driven by a team of horses 12. Attached to the rear of the farm wagon and pivoted thereto as atraile'r there is a cart 13, which may be'atta'ch'ed and rei moved from the wagon when it is loaded.

The cart 13 is provided with a becl'mounted on the cart 'wheels lispaced apart a distance equal to the wheels of the wagon so that the cart will span a single row of plants, as shown in Fig. 2. Said cart ,is provided with the usual tongue 15 pivotally connected to the rearv of the wagon by a dowel pin 16 in the usual manner. Positioned in the forward end of the cart 13 there is a chute 17 into which the tomatoes are delivered, which extends over the tail board of the wagon in position to discharge into the baskets 18.

Rigidly mounted on the side boards of the cart and extending transversely therefrom in. each direction, there are I-beams 19. Said I-beams are of such length as to extend from each side of the wagon over approximately five rows of plants and are supported at their opposite ends so as to be substantially parallel with the ground. The

other ends of said beams are rigidly mounted on the supporting brackets 20, which in turn are mounted on the bar 21 in which the usual caster wheels 22 are ivotally mounted so as to swivel thereon. T e caster wheels 22 ride upon the ground so that as the wagon is pulled along over the plants the beams 19 will be moved with it in fixed relation, the swivel casters accommodating Ehemselves to variations in the ground surace.

Suspendedfrom the beams 19 there are seats 23 adapted to hold the picker in an inclined and easy seated position, as shown in Fig. 2. The seats 23 are supported by the hanger rods 24 which are swun from the supporting bracket 25, said brac et being in turn su ported upon the roller 26 carried by the ower flange of the I-beam,

two on each side thereof. This will ermit the picker tomove the seat back an forth from one end of the beam to the other and swing it around in any desired position. The seat being hun close to the ound, the picker can move it ack and fort by pushing thereon with his feet and will rest in such position as to be within easy reach of the tomatoes close to the ground. One seat and picker is positioned on each side of the cart so as to enable the two pickers to cover ten rows of plants, as shown, as the cart is moved across the field.

For delivering the picked tomatoes to the baskets there are provided endless carrying belts 27 having transverse ribs 28 thereon, which extend from the sides of the cart to adjacent the ends of the beams a little forward thereof. The belts are supported by the brackets 29 secured at One end to the top of the beams 19 and extending downwardly and forwardly therefrom to the adjacent side of the belt, said brackets carrying on the lower end thereof a set of rollers 30 and 31 spaced apart so that the belt will ride over and be supported by the rollers 30 when moving toward the cart with a load of tomatoes, and will pass over and be supported by the rollers 31 whenreturnin A second bracket support 32 is provided for further supporting the opposite side of the belt from the bracket 29 and has mounted thereon the rollers 33 and 34 which cor* respond to the rollers .30 and 31 respectively. Secured on said brackets 29 and 32 there are side flanges 35 for maintaining tomatoes in place upon the carrying belt. On the supporting bracket 36 adjacent the outer end of the beams 19, there is a suitable roller about which the belt travels and at the o posite end thereof there is a driving ro or 37 mounted on the side of the cart and having suitable teeth for en agin the belt and moving it forward. '1 e de 'very ends of the be ts are so positioned as to deliver the tomatoes into the chute 17 so that they may be discharged into the baskets 18.

t For driving the carrying belts 27 there is positioned in the bed of the cart a small gasoline motor 38' having double pulleys 39 thereon, one of which is adapted to drive the pulley 40 mounted on the shaft 41 on which is keyed the pulle 42 which will drive the roller 37 throng the belt 43. The other pulley 39 drives the reversing belt 44 which in turn drives the pulley 45 mounted on the shaft 46 upon which is keyed'the pulley 47 which drives the other roller 37 through the belt 48. The pulleys so reduce the driving speed as to movethe belts slowl For bracing the laterally extending beams be ys or cables- 50 conthere are provided in necting the ends of t e-beams with the rear of the cart, and the guys or cables 51 connecting the ends of t e beams with the tongue of the cart. In attaching the cart to the wagon the cables 52, which are secured to the ends of the beams, are also attached to the front end of the wagon so as to further brace the attachment with respect thereto.

In operation 'the pickin may be done by three men, one to stand in the wagon attending to the horses and replacing the filled baskets with empty ones, and one man in each of the seats. Upon the device being moved into the desired position, the pickers lean back in their seats, pick the tomatoes and toss or place them on to the carrying belt as it is driven by the motor. As each plant is picked the picker ushes his seat back or forth by engaging t e ground with his feet so as to be in position to pick another plant, and while the wagon is in a single position the picker may pick the tomatoes from ten plants, which tomatoes will be delivered into baskets carried by the wagon and then the wagon will be moved forward two rows where the same operation will be repeated.

It will be understood that whereas the above described attachment or harvester has been described as applied to tomatoes, it may equally well apply to the harvesting of any vegetable, berry, cotton or similar growths requiring picking from plants close to the ground or off of the ground The invention claimed is:

1. A harvester attachment of the class described, comprising a vehicle, a laterally extending supporting beam supported at one .end upon said vehicle, means for supporttending supportin beam supported at one end upon said ve icle, a pivotally mounted caster forsupportin t e outer end of said beam,rand a move le seat sup orted by said beam in position to be move back and forth from one end to the other whereby said seat may cover an appreciable extent of ground while said vehicle remains stationary. 1

3. A harvester attachment of the class described, comprising a vehicle, a laterally extendmg supporting beam detachably supported at one end upon said vehicle, means or sup citing the opposite end of said am in epen ently 0 said vehicle, a carriage mounted on said beam so as to freely move longitudinally thereof from one end to the other, and a seat suspended from said carriage for supporting a picker.

4. A harvester attachment of the class described, comprising a vehicle, a laterally extending supporting beam supported at one end upon said vehicle, means for supporting the opposite end of said beam, a carriage mounted on said beam so as to freely move longitudinally thereof from one end to the other, a seat suspended from said carriage for su porting a picker, an endless ca belt a apted to extend from said vehicle adjacent the forward end of said beam, brackets secured to said beam and extending downwardly therefrom in position to sup -port said'carrying belt, means mounted on said vehicle for operating said carrym belt, and a discharge chute mounted on sai vehicle, for receiving the product discharged by said belt and directing the same into a container therefor.

' 5. A'harvester attachment of the class described, comprising a vehicle, oppositely and with respect thereto, endless carrying beltsg adapted to extend fromsaid vehicle to the adjacent and forward ends of said beams, brackets secured to said beams and extendmg downwardly therefrom in position to support said carrying belts, a motor mounted in said vehicle for driving said carrying belts, and a discharge chute mounted on said vehicle for receivin the afiixed.my signature. 'ELVAN Y. TARKINGTON.

product discharged .by said belts an directmg the same into a container.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto 

